May 31, 2024 • 23min
How the FBI's fake cell phone company put criminals into real jail cells
Planet Money
Key Takeaways
- Law enforcement, led by a federal prosecutor named Andrew, created a fake encrypted phone company called Anom to infiltrate and monitor criminal networks around the world.
- The FBI had to design Anom to be an attractive and secure product for criminals, including adding features like remote data wiping and voice disguise, in order to get criminals to adopt it.
- Anom was marketed through "influencers" - high-level criminal kingpins who were given commissions and equity to push the phones to their underlings.
- The FBI was able to shut down Anom's competitors, forcing criminals to use the FBI-run platform, which allowed them to monitor thousands of criminal messages and thwart numerous threats.
- However, the success of Anom also led to challenges, as the sheer volume of messages became overwhelming for the FBI to monitor, leading to a dangerous cycle of violence and paranoia among criminals.
- Ultimately, the FBI had to shut down Anom, but it was considered a major success in disrupting organized crime, even if no US arrests were made directly from the operation.
Introduction
This episode of Planet Money tells the incredible true story of how the FBI created and ran a fake encrypted phone company called Anom in order to infiltrate and monitor criminal networks around the world. The story is based on the new book "Dark Wire" by journalist Joseph Cox, who covers technology and crime.
The episode centers around a federal prosecutor named Andrew who was determined to find a way to access the encrypted communications of criminal organizations that were using specialized phones to evade law enforcement. When the CEO of one such phone company, Phantom Secure, was arrested, Andrew saw an opportunity to create his own encrypted phone platform that could serve as a backdoor for the FBI.
Topics Discussed
The FBI's Encrypted Phone Sting Operation (3:05)
- Andrew and the FBI negotiated with the Phantom Secure CEO to get access to their servers and technology, but the CEO escaped before they could finalize the deal.
- However, the publicity around the Phantom Secure case scared other encrypted phone companies, leading one to approach the FBI with an offer - the FBI could take over their company and use it for their own investigations.
- This gave the FBI the opportunity to create their own encrypted phone platform, which they called Anom, that could be used to monitor criminal communications.
Designing the Perfect Criminal Phone (9:44)
- The FBI had to design Anom to be an attractive and secure product for criminals, even though they had no prior experience running a tech company.
- They added features like remote data wiping, voice disguise, and a hidden messaging app behind a fake calculator interface to make Anom appealing to criminals.
- The FBI also deliberately priced Anom at a premium to make it seem like an exclusive, high-quality product that criminals would want to use.
Marketing Anom to Criminals (17:21)
- The FBI used a "influencer marketing" strategy, seeding the phones with high-level criminal kingpins who would then require their underlings to also use Anom.
- These kingpins were even offered commissions and equity in the company to incentivize them to push Anom adoption.
- This created a "walled garden" effect where criminals could only communicate with each other if they were all using Anom devices.
Shutting Down Competitors (20:18)
- The FBI was able to leverage its law enforcement powers to have other encrypted phone companies like Phantom Secure and Sky shut down.
- This forced criminals to turn to Anom as their only viable encrypted communication option.
- Andrew admits this was a strategic business tactic, even if it wasn't officially sanctioned by the Department of Justice.
Monitoring Thousands of Criminal Messages (21:20)
- As Anom's user base grew into the thousands, the FBI had to dedicate dozens of agents to read through all the messages in real-time.
- This allowed them to thwart numerous threats to life, but also created a dangerous cycle of paranoia and violence among the criminals.
- The sheer volume of messages became overwhelming for the FBI to monitor, leading them to eventually shut down Anom.
The Aftermath and Impact (25:39)
- While Anom didn't end organized crime forever, it sowed significant doubt in the criminal underworld about the security of encrypted communications.
- The operation resulted in over 1,000 arrests and the seizure of massive quantities of drugs and weapons globally.
- However, no arrests were made in the US due to jurisdictional issues, which the lead prosecutor Andrew found disappointing.
- Ultimately, the FBI's foray into the encrypted phone business, while risky and challenging, was considered a major disruption to global organized crime networks.
Conclusion
The Planet Money episode provides a fascinating look at the high-stakes cat-and-mouse game between law enforcement and sophisticated criminal organizations when it comes to technology. The FBI's creation and operation of the Anom encrypted phone platform was an unprecedented and audacious move, requiring them to essentially become tech entrepreneurs in order to infiltrate the criminal underworld.
While the operation faced numerous challenges and ethical quandaries, it resulted in significant disruption to global organized crime. The story illustrates the lengths law enforcement will go to stay ahead of criminals who are constantly evolving their methods, as well as the blurring of lines between law enforcement and the private sector in the digital age. Ultimately, it serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of technology being weaponized by both sides of the law.
